An electric toothbrush is one example of an oral care apparatus. It is known that in order to effectively remove plaque when brushing using an electric toothbrush, it is important to control the load acting on the brush (called “brush pressure” hereinafter) when, for example, the brush is making contact with the teeth.
Electric toothbrushes are typically capable of detecting the brush pressure on the teeth based on the current consumed by a motor (Patent Citation 1 (JP-2005-152217A). As another method, the brush pressure can be detected using a strain gauge (Patent Citation 2 (JP-H10-108734A).